Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was appropriately rewarded by the NHL for his recent monster week.
Ovechkin was named the “First Star of the Week,” the league’s equivalent of a player of the week honor, for scoring seven goals in three games and adding a shootout-winning score against the Sabres Saturday.
The Russian had back-to-back hat tricks for Washington in wins over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. He has extended his point streak to 14 games, a career high.
Ovechkin leads the NHL with 29 goals as a result of this scoring explosion; the next-closest player has 24.